Ahh-- a weekend full of progression in Women's Snowboarding comes to an end, but Beyond The Boundaries was one for the books. This was our first year, and boy and are we happy with the turnout. It was an action-packed weekend filled with 40 of the raddest ladies out there.
Beyond the Boundaries freestyle snowboarding camp joined us January 27th-28th and it feels like they were here for an entire week! And- the fact that we were able to bring pro snowboarder Christine Savage back to her home mountain where it all began is the cherry on top of a sick weekend.
For those of you who don't know, Beyond the Boundaries Camp was started by Christine Savage and Mary Walsh. They've expanded their camp across multiple continents bringing the stoke and shred with them. This was their first year as Beyond The Boundaries and I had the pleasure to chat with them earlier this Fall and help in the process of putting some dates on the calendar to bring this great event to Mountain Creek in Vernon, NJ to help enhance our female snowboard community. And that it did.
We started the weekend with 34 campers, divided by their current level of snowboarding many of which hitting boxes and jumps for their first time. It was so empowering to see these awesome ladies taking the step out of their comfort zone with some insane female coaches by their side. Christine and Mary brought Fancy Rutherford, Ari Morrone and Ashley Giangregorio to Jersey to help coach where they did just that and so much more.
It's not everyday that you get 34 women in one place to snowboard together so this was extra special and formed such a solid and empowering weekend for these girls to bond, make new friends, try new things and to reach their full potential. While hitting features in the park can be scary, Christine and her crew do an awesome job making these chicks feel super comfortable stepping out of their comfort zone at the Private Park which means that campers are surrounded by each other and able to feel comfortable and confident in their own skills no matter their ability.
With snowboarders of all abilities, the coaches were able to give intimate and special attention by dividing the groups by ability level. We had females aged from 12-55 making for a pretty diverse group with snowboarders who have never hit any jumps of features before to local riders looking to perfect their Front Boards. Diving right in, it was awesome to see these chicks all get special attention and coaching. With the groups being fairly small it was easy for each coach to work directly with someone and watch their movements to make sure they were aligning their shoulders, hips and boards the right way.
By Day 2, everyone was comfortable stepping out of their comfort zone and trying features like the Pole Jam and the Flat Bar. But by far, the most impressive progression happened on the first of 2 jumps. It was the perfect jump for the first timer to spin their first 360. I saw tons of girls spinning 180's for the first time and grabbing Indy, Melon, and trying Methods and attempting 260's. Some pretty crazy stuff, but that's what it is all about.
A huge thank you to Beyond The Boundaries sponsors Oakley, Clif Bar, Chameleon Cold Brew, Blackstrap, Saga Outerwear, Arcade Belts, Wend Wax, Coola Suncare, Zuzu Luxe Cosmetics, Rad Roller & More!
We look forward to being able to bring Beyond The Boundaries back to Mountain Creek next winter, so keep your eyes peeled for dates on the calendar and share this with your girlfriends who might want to take their snowboarding to the next level.
